Sheva Brakhot

1) An unending Fountain of Blessings are You*, Source of Bounty, who creates wine to gladden us in joyous celebration.

2) An unending Fountain of Blessings are You, Generative Force beyond time and space, whose every creation is glorious.

3) An unending Fountain of Blessings are You, Divine Creator, who forms human beings in all of our diversity.

4) An unending Fountain of Blessings are You, Peerless Sculptor, who has shaped human beings according to a holy template and has prepared for us life structures that endure. Oh Creator of human life, You radiate blessing.

5) The barren spaces in our hearts bloom with gladness and rejoicing because of the uniting of this couple. An Overflow of Endless Blessings are You, who opens the heart of the world.

6) Great Loving Spirit, make these beloved friends, these wedding partners, as blissful as were your first creatures in Paradise, at the dawn of time. An unending fountain of blessings are You, Great Gladdener, who en-lightens those who marry. An unending Fountain of Blessings are You, Nurturing Presence, whose Great Being embraces marriage partners in heartful joy, waves of joy and piercing joy, leaping joy and clear-eyed joy, love and companionship, and fulfillment in intimate partnering.** May the time soon come when the loudest sounds heard in the streets of Jerusalem and everywhere else are the sounds of joyful celebrations--the voices of human beings, jubilant under the chuppah, and of all kinds of people enjoying life. An unending Fountain of Blessings are You, Divine Singer, who serenades those who wed.

* Thanks to R. Marcia Prager for her transcendent translation of baruch atah”
** This interpretive translation of the different qualities of joy are based on the work of R. Shefa Gold. Thanks to R. Wayne Dosick for his input on the translation of “re’ut.”